Diversity in the evolution of last-mile deliveries: Interactions between e-commerce growth, urban development, planning, and the delivery service market

Takanori Sakai; Bram Kin; Heleen Buldeo Rai; Alison Conway; Lynette Cheah; Giacomo Dalla Chiara; Walther Ploos van Amstel

doi:10.1016/j.cstp.2026.101845

Back

Diversity in the evolution of last-mile deliveries: Interactions between e-commerce growth, urban development, planning, and the delivery service market

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Diversity in the evolution of last-mile deliveries: Interactions between e-commerce growth, urban development, planning, and the delivery service market

Takanori Sakai, Bram Kin, Heleen Buldeo Rai, Alison Conway, Lynette Cheah, Giacomo Dalla Chiara and Walther Ploos van Amstel

Case Studies on Transport Policy, Vol.25, pp.1-15

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2026.101845

Files and links (1)

pdf

1-s2.0-S2213624X26001410-main10.30 MBDownload View

Published Version Open Access CC BY V4.0

Abstract

E-commerce

Last-mile deliveries

Urban freight

E-commerce is transforming urban freight systems and creating challenges for last-mile delivery due to fragmented demand, high stop density, and diverse delivery models. This study examines last-mile e-commerce delivery in five cities, primarily focusing on parcel deliveries, and analyzes how the state of practice of last-mile delivery systems is influenced by local contexts, including urban development, planning and policy, and market structures. Case studies of Brussels, Amsterdam, Singapore, Tokyo, and New York illustrate how last-mile delivery processes differ across cities and identify the key contextual factors that explain these variations. A cross-case comparison shows that differences in demand density, the size of urban agglomeration, the built environment, zoning restrictions, building codes, market structure, and zero-emission policies shape the last-mile delivery modes and solutions. Furthermore, several common strategies from a public-sector perspective are observed across cities. These include enhancing market cooperation and coordination, promoting non-home and unattended handovers, establishing regulatory frameworks for non-automobile delivery modes, developing logistics spaces, and exploring intermodal systems that use non-road transportation modes. However, specific implementation approaches remain unique to each local context. Finally, based on these findings, a set of key questions is proposed to help planners and policymakers assess their local contexts, define their vision for last-mile delivery systems, and select appropriate strategies and implementation approaches.

Details

Title: Diversity in the evolution of last-mile deliveries: Interactions between e-commerce growth, urban development, planning, and the delivery service market
Authors: Takanori Sakai (Corresponding Author) - Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology
Bram Kin - HAN University of Applied Sciences
Heleen Buldeo Rai - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Alison Conway - City College of New York
Lynette Cheah - University of the Sunshine Coast
Giacomo Dalla Chiara - University of Washington
Walther Ploos van Amstel - Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
Publication details: Case Studies on Transport Policy, Vol.25, pp.1-15
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.cstp.2026.101845
ISSN: 2213-6258
Copyright note: © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of World Conference on Transport Research Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ).
Grant note: This research was supported by an IBS Fellowship from the Institute of Behavioral Sciences.
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991231325802621
Output Type: Journal article

Metrics

1 Record Views